That being said, if you’ve spent much time in or around the trans community, this information may all be familiar to you. As someone who has been in the LGBT+ community for over 5 years and involved with the trans community for over 2, the only really new information for me was in the chapter on surgeries which had more details than I had heard before. As a fan of Juno Dawson from both her YA novels and her other titles such as 'This Book is Gay' and 'The Gender Games' - her new book 'What's The T?' doesn't disappoint. Unfortunately, trans 'issues' are a big thing at the moment. I say unfortunately because this isn't really that good a thing. Yes, some things are getting easier for trans people, but on a whole we're having to watch our rights, our legality, and our very existence debated, debased, and dissected on an almost daily basis. The Independent Press Standards Organisation has found that there has been an over 400% increase in articles talking about trans people in the last decade.

Anyone who has watched Jamie’s journey on YouTube will not be disappointed. He has a light touch and warm charm that really shines through in this reading. Another important yet difficult subject Jamie approaches beautifully is that of acceptance. Sadly there are people who may never accept you as a member of the LGBTQ+ community but that is never your fault. I love Jamie for highlighting that. If they can't accept you that is purely their problem, you have every right to walk away. I think the best way is through listening, education, and having compassion. You don’t need to understand everything to be able to support someone. You just need to listen to how they’re feeling, and allow them the freedom to be themselves.” Jamie emphasises on multiple occassions that there is no right or wrong way to be trans and goes out of his way to highlight the experiences of trans men other than himself as well as experiences of trans women and nonbinary individuals who he himself can not speak for. This mix of voices makes the content even more validating for those whose experiences may not be conventional.

Retailers:

In reality, trans women are women. They should absolutely have access to women’s spaces, and evidence suggests that they pose no increased risk to cis women. Hey, I'm Jamie, a 29-year-old trans guy from the UK. I've been transitioning for 12 years now after realising I was trans (by accident!) at sixteen years old. I knew I was a boy since the age of four, but realised whilst growing up that I was different.

I first realised I was trans when I was 16 when I came across a documentary about a young trans guy and realised that there was a way to describe how I’d been feeling my whole life. It was scary and relieving at the same time, and I began the journey of self-discovery.There’s definitely a misunderstanding among both cis and trans people, that dating becomes something entirely different when someone is trans. We’re not aliens, we just have a slightly different lived experience that doesn’t necessarily have to impact dating and relationships in a big way. The way trans people find dating and relationship partners, for example, is much the same as for cis people. I found my partner in college. Maybe you’re into someone from your school, or university, or workplace. Of course, we can’t forget that a lot of modern-day happily-ever after stories begin on dating apps, the concept of which terrifies me. Not because I’m trans, but because I’m genuinely so awful at flirting. You should hear me with Shaaba – if we weren’t already in love I’m sure I’d be single. The T in LGBT book cover. (Image: Provided) I want to welcome you to The T in LGBT where you can explore and learn about so many topics surrounding gender identity: realising you're trans, starting hormones, considering surgery, and everything in between. Whether you're questioning your own identity and are looking for advice on certain stages of transition, or whether you're wanting to learn about the trans experience to support someone or understand allyship, I hope this book can be your one-stop guide to everything trans related. In this extract from The T in LGBT, Jamie interrogates the topic of dating and relationships through the lens of the trans experience. Queen of Teen 2014 Juno Dawson is the multi award-winning author of six novels for young adults. In 2016, she authored the best-selling World Book Day title: SPOT THE DIFFERENCE.

I think it’s crucial to humanise the trans experience and to hear about it from trans people themselves. The more resources out there from trans perspectives, the better, and I wanted to add to this with a book that gave a personal account of transitioning. One of the things I really wanted to focus on was providing a range of trans voices because no one journey is the same.” Juno grew up in West Yorkshire, writing imaginary episodes of Doctor Who. She later turned her talent to journalism, interviewing luminaries such as Steps and Atomic Kitten before writing a weekly serial in a Brighton newspaper. In 2015, Juno announced her intention to undergo gender transition and live as a woman. If we have as many things as possible out there that show a true representation of trans people and the trans experience, the better.’ The book is very much written in Jamie's voice which makes it as welcoming and friendly as his videos. It is informative and knowledgable without being daunting and beautifully gentle and playful at times while also taking a cautious tone when approaching more serious topics. Jamie is one of the safest Youtubers I know of when it comes to how he approaches potentially triggering topics and his book reflects that.

Sadly, most of this coverage comes from people who hold negative, and often incorrect and ill informed, views on the trans community. These articles, presented as thing pieces, often contain very open and obvious transphobia, and help to spread this by not challenging these lies, or featuring trans voices to oppose them. Just this month the BBC has stated that it doesn't feel it needs to include trans voices on programmes such as Newsnight to counter negative views on trans people.

But already one of my annoyances - the description here says 'for 14+' as many LGBT books do by default, but the author has already said “it’s a book of everything I wish I’d known when I was twelve” (p21) and it feels clearly aimed to be accessed by 11+ (and younger by artwork but not by language). It's one of those little things about LGBT books that publishers etc do that winds me up. When Do I Tell Them? A big question that comes up around being trans and dating is when to tell someone you’re trans. The answer to this largely depends on when you feel comfortable and safe, and while there’s no magical formula that spits out a date, there are two guiding factors to help you determine the big ‘When’. The primary factor, and it’s one that must be taken seriously, is consent around sex. Not only is it the right thing to do (and hey, consent is totally hot), it’s also the legal thing you have to do.) Maybe you’re the kind of person who’s very upfront; you might have it in your bio, or told people before a first date, because that’s just a rule you want to live by. Maybe you’ve had a not-so-great past experience that’s led you to be more cautious now. If telling a previous date resulted in them publicly and abruptly ending things, it would make sense why somebody might now choose to go on a first date and only decide to tell them once they’re sure they wanted to see them again (they might even decide to not come out in person this time. Discover what it means to be a young transgender and/or non-binary person in the twenty-first century in this candid and funny guide for teens from the bestselling author of This Book is Gay. Dating apps are so varied. Many mainstream ones allow you to share that you’re trans publicly on your profile, if that’s something you want to do. For apps that don’t have this as a feature, some trans people choose to share this anyway in their bios. Some apps have the aim of being trans-friendly and inclusive – but do keep in mind that this doesn’t mean every individual using the app will be trans-inclusive, even if the company has this ethos.I don't read a lot of nonfiction, however, when I do, I typically find them very helpful, and this was no exception. I believe that books on particular subjects should where possible be written by the people who have knowledge and/or experience related to that subject. The same way that medical journals are written medical professionals and people who have studied in that field for a significant amount of time. I say that because if someone who isn't qualified and knowledgeable in the field is writing it there's higher chances for misinformation to be unintentionally spread further, or the information could be biased against that group. It also makes more sense to me for someone who implicitly understands the content they're writing to be the author of that work. The biggest one definitely seems to be personality. Some people don’t want to potentially waste their time developing a connection unless they know that person is accepting, while others want to know if they’re going to develop a connection before being so open about their transness. I personally would opt to have my transness front and centre so that I wouldn’t have to come out in person, and so I’d avoid spending time with someone who might not want to continue dating after finding out I’m trans. Again, there’s no right or wrong answer. It’s definitely a good idea to shop around and find which apps you feel most comfortable using. There are dating apps made specifically for the LGBT+ community, and some, even more specifically, for trans people. Some trans people feel most comfortable dating other trans people, or happen to socialise with other trans people more frequently, leading to ‘T4T’ (or ‘trans for trans’) relationships. It’s perfectly okay for people to want T4T relationships. It makes sense that a shared experience, unspoken understanding, and guaranteed acceptance of your identity would take away some of the scary aspects of dating.